47th Infantry (Viking) Division Memorial - Camp Ripley, Minnesota
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 46° 04.874 W 094° 20.854
15T E 395807 N 5103955
Memorial honoring veterans of the 47th Infantry Division known as the Viking Division located on the grounds of the Minnesota Military Museum at Camp Ripley near Little Falls, Minnesota.
Waymark Code: WMCN7R
Location: Minnesota, United States
Date Posted: 09/24/2011
Views: 3
The memorial has two stone plaques on mounted on brick bases. The plaques are inscribed:
Dedicated To The Men And Women Of
The 47th Infantry (Viking) Division
For Their Service To The State And Nation
Constituted 10 June 1946
Deactivated 10 February 1991
Furor Vikingorum
(Fury Of The Viking)
47th "Viking" Infantry Division
The 47th Infantry Division was officially born on 10 June 1946. It was an all National Guard division, based in Minnesota and North Dakota. Its name, "Viking Division" recognized the ethnic heritage shared by so many people of both states. Although new, most of its assigned regiments, battalions, and companies had proud, distinguished histories dating back to the Civil War. In December 1950, it was mobilized for the Korean War, and by late January 1951, 9,000 Vikings found themselves at Camp Rucker, Alabama. The division stated stateside, but its personnel were gradually reassigned as replacement troops, many to Korea. Federalization lasted two years. Major reorganizations occurred in 1959, 1963, and 1968 (which placed brigades from Iowa and Illinois into the division) as a result of budget shifts and changing doctrines about the use of land forces in the nuclear age. Arctic warfare was added as a special mission for the winterwise Vikings in the 1960's. From late 1965 to early 1968, division elements were designated as SRF (Select Reserved Force) units, resulting in more training and other measures to facilitate rapid mobilization to tropical Vietnam. The call-up never came, but many Vikings saw combat after individually signing on with the active army. Women joined the ranks in the 1970's. The 1980's were marked by vastly expanded training opportunities and resources as a result of new total force policy that gave the division, and guard, a larger role in America's defense strategy. The division's history officially ended on 10 February 1991, when it was inactivated and redesignated as the 34th "Red Bull" Division. The citizen soldiers of the 47th served their state and nation for 45 years, typifying the role played nationwide by the National Guard during America's Cold War. As a first line reserve of the U.S. Army, the division stood ready as an important instrument of American policies and goals for national defense. Division soldiers always stepped forward, whenever called, to lend a hand during flood, storms and other local emergencies.